What happened?
A top Bangladeshi military official—Lieutenant General Kamarul Hassan, Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of the Armed Forces Division of Bangladesh, is on a rare visit to Pakistan and held meetings with senior Pakistan military leadership at the General Headquarters in (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on January 14, 2025. As per Pakistan’s Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the discussions focused on matters of “mutual strategic interest” wherein both sides explored avenues for enhancing bilateral defence cooperation.
Why it matters to India
This latest visit underscores an ongoing shift in bilateral ties between Bangladesh and Pakistan since former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina stepped down. Noteworthy, this visit by a top Bangladeshi military official to Pakistan took place in the backdrop of India’s deteriorating ties
with Bangladesh, with most recently both sides summoning each other’s top envoys. Under Mohammad Yunus’ leadership, Bangladesh’s interim government has undertaken a number of steps to strengthen ties with Pakistan, which are perceived as detrimental to India’s security concerns.